System, method, and computer program for funding a payment card account from an external source just-in-time for a purchase

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to a system, method, and computer program for funding a payment card account from an external funding gateway just-in-time for a purchase. A payment card processing system maintains a payment card account for a user for funds from a third party funding source. Funds from the funding source are controlled by an external funding gateway. In order to approve a purchase authorization transaction, the payment card account must have a positive balance equal to or greater than the purchase amount. Funding requests are sent from the payment card processing system to the external funding gateway in response to receiving a purchase authorization request for the payment card, and, if the funding request is approved by the external funding gateway, the system credits to the payment card account with the funds just-in-time for approval of a purchase authorization request.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/919,510, filed on Oct. 21, 2015. The aforementioned application ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to a payment card system and, moreparticularly, to a system and method for funding a payment card accountfrom an external source just-in-time for a purchase.

Background

When a user desires to make a purchase using a funding source, such ashome equity line or other loan, the user typically must either transferfunds from the funding source into his bank account or use a debit cardprocessed by the funding source (e.g., a bank). In the case of theformer, this requires preplanning by the user prior to the purchase, andit also requires a user to estimate the amount of the purchase. If thefunding source is a loan, this results in interest accruing before thetime of the purchase, and, as the user is likely to transfer more thanthe amount of an estimated purchase, in the user paying more interestthan is necessary.

Because of the disadvantages of transferring funds from a funding sourceto a bank account in advance, it is often desirable for the user to havea payment card in which funds from the funding source can be used ondemand and only in the amounts needed. However, many funding sources donot have their own payment card processing systems. If they contractwith a traditional payment card processor, they have to hand overcontrol of funds to the payment card processor. Therefore, there is aneed for a system that enables funding source recipients to have theconvenience of a payment card without requiring a funding source to be apayment card processor or to hand over control of funds to a paymentcard processor.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is directed to a system, method, and computerprogram for funding a payment card account from an external fundinggateway just-in-time for a purchase. A payment card processing systemmaintains a payment card account for a user for funds from a third partyfunding source. The funds from the third party funding source are theonly source of funds for the account, and the payment card processingsystem does not control or hold funds for the third party fundingsource. Funds from the third party funding source are credited to thepayment card account only just-in-time for approval of a purchaseauthorization request. This enables users to use funds from a fundingsource on demand and only in the amounts needed.

In response to a user using the payment card for a purchase, atransaction authorization request for the payment card account isforwarded to payment card processing system via a payment card network(e.g., DISCOVER, VISA, etc.). The payment processing system generatesand sends a funding request in real time for the transaction to a thirdparty funding gateway, which may be the third party funding sourceitself or an entity that services user accounts for the funding source(e.g., determines whether to authorize funds for a purchase). Thefunding request is for funds equal to the amount of the purchasetransaction.

In response to the third party funding gateway approving the fundingrequest, the payment card processing system adjusts the availablebalance of the payment card to reflect the amount of the funding andapproves the purchase authorization request. If the third party gatewaydeclines the funding request, then the payment card processing systemdeclines the transaction. All transaction authorization requests have aresponse deadline (e.g., 6 seconds) in which the payment card processingsystem must authorize or decline the request, and, therefore,communications with the funding gateway happen in real time.

In certain embodiments, a payment card may be associated with multiplefunding gateways, and, in such embodiments, the system maintains aseparate subaccount (or purse) for each funding gateway on the paymentcard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart that illustrates a method, according to oneembodiment of the disclosure, for funding a payment card account from anexternal funding source just-in-time for a purchase transaction.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a payment card network according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3 a-e are a sequence flows that illustrates an example transactionaccording to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a method, performed by a payment card processingsystem, for funding a payment card account from an external fundingsource just-in-time for a purchase transaction. The funding source isexternal in that it is not controlled by or under common control withthe payment processing system. Examples of external funding sources area loan or line of credit from a bank or other creditor, or amulti-currency wallet. The method is described with respect to network200.

A user 210 initiates a transaction online, at a physical store, at anATM, or elsewhere using a payment card that enables the user to use athird party funding source for the transaction (step 105). A purchaseauthorization request is routed to a payment card processing system 230via a payment network 220 (step 110). The payment network 220 is anetwork that routes payment card communications between merchants (andMerchant Acquirers) and payment card processing systems (e.g., system230), which are the systems that process transactions for payment cardsand maintain payment card balances.

The payment processing system 230 receives and parses the transactionauthorization request (step 115). In order to approve a purchaseauthorization request, the system 230 requires a positive balance in anaccount sufficient to cover the purchase amount, and, at the time ofreceipt of the purchase authorization request, the payment card accounthas a balance of zero (except, in certain cases, there may be funds froma return of an item). This is because the sole source of funds for thepayment card account is the external funding source, and the paymentpayment process system 230 neither holds nor controls the externalfunds. Consequently, the payment processing system 230 generates afunding request for the transaction (step 120). The amount of fundingrequested is equal to the purchase price in the purchase authorizationrequest. It then sends the funding request to a third party fundinggateway 240 (the “funding gateway”). The request is generated and sentin real time, as there is a time deadline to respond to the the purchaseauthorization request, typically seven seconds.

The funding gateway 240 may be the funding source itself (e.g., a bankthat granted the user a loan), or it may be a company that manages orservices user accounts for a funding source. The funding gateway 240determines whether the user has sufficient funds for the purchase (orwhether the user is otherwise authorized to use funds for the purchase)(steps 125, 130, 133)), and responds to the funding request from thepayment card processing system accordingly (steps 135, 160). In oneembodiment, the funding gateway 240 must respond to the funding requestwithin three seconds.

In response to the funding gateway 240 declining the funding request,the payment card processing system 230 declines the purchaseauthorization request prior to the payment network 220 deadline (e.g., 7seconds) for responding to such request (steps 140-155) (i.e., thepayment card processing system 230 sends a declination response to theuser/merchant via the payment network 220). In response to the fundinggateway 240 approving the funding request, the payment card processingsystem 230 adjusts the available balance of the payment card account toreflect the amount of the funding request (i.e., the purchase amount)and approves the transaction authorization request prior to the paymentnetwork 220 deadline for responding to such request (steps 160-185)(i.e., the payment card processing system 230 sends an approval requestto the user/merchant via the payment card network). The availablebalance of the payment card account is adjusted “just in time” toapprove the purchase authorization request (see step 170). As thepayment card processor does not extend credit to the user itself, theavailable balance in the payment card account must be at least equal tothe purchase amount in order to approve the purchase authorizationrequest (unless partial authorizations are permitted). Upon approvingthe purchase authorization request, the available balance in the paymentcard account is returned to zero (see step 178).

In one embodiment, when the transaction is settled, the payment cardprocessing system sends funds for the purchase to the merchant (ormerchant acquirer), and the third party funding gateway sends anequivalent amount of funds to the payment card processing system.

In one embodiment, the payment card processing system processestransactions for prepaid payment cards, such as the system described inU.S. Patent Publication No. US-2012-0215605-A1, filed on Feb. 21, 2012with Ser. No. 13/400,888 and titled “System and Method for Providing aUser with a Single Payment Card on which Prepaid and/or Reward BalancesAre Tracked for Multiple Merchants,” the contents of which areincorporated by reference as if fully disclosed herein. In such asystem, the payment card account for external funds is treated like aprepaid account that is funded just-in-time for a purchase.

In certain embodiments, a single payment card has multiple types ofaccounts associated with it. For example, there may be an account forfunds from an external funding source (as discussed above), as well asprepaid accounts/purses, multi-currency wallets, and credit cardaccounts. In such cases, the system separately tracks balances andpayments for each account associated with the payment card.

In certain embodiments, a payment card may be associated with multiplefunding sources, and, in such embodiments, the system maintains aseparate subaccount for each funding source. In such case, the user maydeclare his preferred funding account in advance of the payment cardtransaction.

If a user returns an item purchased with payment card account (i.e.,with funds from the funding source), the refunded amount may be passedon to the funding gateway or held in the user's prepayment card account,depending on funding gateway and how the payment card processing systemis configured. In embodiments in which refunds are help in theprepayment card account, the account balance is first checked inresponse to receiving a purchase authorization request for theprepayment card. If the balance covers the purchase price, the purchaseauthorization request is approved without a call to the funding gateway.However, the sole source of funds for the account is still the externalfunding source, as the refunded amount originated from the externalfunding source.

As used herein, a payment card may be a physical card, an electroniccard, or any other payment device that a user can use to purchase goodsand services.

FIGS. 3 a-3 e illustrates an example of the method described withrespect to FIG. 1 . In this example, the user desires to user thepayment card for a $100 purchase. In FIG. 3 a , a merchant acquirer 320sends the payment card processing system 340 a purchase authorizationrequest for a $100 purchase. The request is sent via payment network320. At this time the user's account balance on the payment card iszero.

In FIG. 3 b , the payment card processing system 330 sends a fundingrequest to the funding gateway 340. At this time, the user accountbalance is still zero. A state is associated with the funding request,and, at this point, the state indicates that the funding request ispending.

In FIG. 3 c , the payment card processing system receives approval ofthe funding request from the funding gateway 350. The payment cardprocessing system adjusts the available balance for the payment card to$100 and changes the funding request state indicating that the fundingrequest was approved.

In FIG. 3 d , the payment card processing system 330 approves thepurchase authorization request and sets the account balance to $0. Thestate of the funding request continues to indicate that the fundingrequest is approved.

In FIG. 3 e , the transaction is cleared and settled. The accountbalance is still $0 and the state of the funding request indicates thetransaction is complete and settled.

The methods described with respect to FIGS. 1-3 are embodied in softwareand performed by a computer system (comprising one or more computingdevices) executing the software. A person skilled in the art wouldunderstand that a computer system has one or more memory units, disks,or other physical, computer-readable storage media for storing softwareinstructions, as well as one or more processors for executing thesoftware instructions.

As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the above disclosure isintended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:parsing, by one or more processors of one or more computing devices of apayment card processing system maintaining a payment card account, atransaction authorization request to determine a transaction amount anda response time deadline, the transaction authorization request routedfrom one or more computing devices of a payment network to the one ormore computing devices of the payment card processing system;generating, by the one or more processors of the one or more computingdevices of the payment card processing system, a funding request toauthorize an electronic payment transaction with an additional responsetime deadline less than the response time deadline of the transactionauthorization request, the additional response time deadline comprisinga sub-time period of the response time deadline for receiving a responseto the funding request; sending, by the one or more processors of theone or more computing devices of the payment card processing system toone or more computing devices of an external gateway that is separatefrom the payment card processing system and external to the paymentnetwork in response to the transaction authorization request, thefunding request to authorize and fund an electronic payment transactionfor the transaction amount according to the response time deadline viathe one or more computing devices of the external gateway based on thepayment card account comprising a funding source external to the paymentcard processing system and serviced by the one or more computing devicesof the external gateway; receiving, by the one or more processors of theone or more computing devices of the payment card processing system andfrom the one or more computing devices of the external gateway, anapproval message comprising authorization of the funding request withinthe additional response time deadline; modifying, by the one or moreprocessors of the one or more computing devices of the payment cardprocessing system, a balance of the payment card account by thetransaction amount in real-time in response to receiving the approvalmessage from the one or more computing devices of the external gateway,wherein modifying the balance comprises: increasing the balance of thepayment card account by the transaction amount within the response timedeadline; generating a response indicating the authorization of thefunding request in response to increasing the balance of the paymentcard account by the transaction amount; and reducing, in response togenerating the response indicating the authorization of the fundingrequest, the balance of the payment card account by the transactionamount within the response time deadline in connection with the responseindicating the authorization of the funding request, wherein the paymentcard processing system does not control funds for the transactionamount; and sending, by the one or more processors of the one or morecomputing devices of the payment card processing system to the one ormore computing devices of the payment network, the response indicatingthe authorization of the funding request by the one or more computingdevices of the external gateway prior to the response time deadline. 2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: generating thefunding request comprises generating, in response to the transactionauthorization request, the funding request to authorize and fund theelectronic payment transaction for the transaction amount on demandutilizing the funding source via the external gateway; and sending thefunding request comprises sending the funding request to the externalgateway prior to the response time deadline to authorize and fund theelectronic payment transaction just-in-time via the funding sourceexternal to the payment card processing system and serviced by theexternal gateway.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinsending the funding request comprises sending the funding request to theexternal gateway comprising the funding source to determine whether thefunding source has sufficient funds for the electronic paymenttransaction.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereingenerating the funding request further comprises generating the fundingrequest in response to determining that the payment card account at thepayment card processing system has a balance less than the transactionamount.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, whereingenerating the funding request with the additional response timedeadline comprises generating the additional response time deadlineindicating a three second response time deadline.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein increasing the balanceof the payment card account comprises increasing the balance of thepayment card account prior to receiving funds for the transaction amountfrom the external gateway.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein reducing the balance of the payment card account comprisesreducing the balance of the payment card account by the transactionamount prior to settlement of funds for the transaction amount with thepayment network.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinreceiving the approval message comprises: receiving an indication that auser associated with the electronic payment transaction is authorized touse funds from the funding source for the electronic paymenttransaction.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: selecting the payment card account from a plurality ofpayment card accounts associated with a payment card according to thetransaction authorization request; and determining, from a plurality offunding sources corresponding to the plurality of payment card accounts,the funding source in connection with the external gateway in responseto selecting the payment card account from the plurality of payment cardaccounts.
 10. A system comprising: at least one processor; and anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:parse, by one or more computing devices of a payment card processingsystem maintaining a payment card account, a transaction authorizationrequest to determine a transaction amount and a response time deadline,the transaction authorization request routed from one or more computingdevices of a payment network to the one or more computing devices of thepayment card processing system; generate, by the one or more computingdevices of the payment card processing system, a funding request toauthorize an electronic payment transaction with an additional responsetime deadline less than the response time deadline of the transactionauthorization request, the additional response time deadline comprisinga sub-time period of the response time deadline for receiving a responseto the funding request; send, by the one or more computing devices ofthe payment card processing system to one or more computing devices ofan external gateway that is separate from the payment card processingsystem and external to the payment network in response to thetransaction authorization request, the funding request to authorize andfund an electronic payment transaction for the transaction amountaccording to the response time deadline via one or more computingdevices of the external gateway based on the payment card accountcomprising a funding source external to the payment card processingsystem and serviced by the one or more computing devices of the externalgateway; receive, by the one or more computing devices of the paymentcard processing system and from the one or more computing devices of theexternal gateway, an approval message comprising authorization of thefunding request within the additional response time deadline; modify, bythe one or more computing devices of the payment card processing system,a balance of the payment card account by the transaction amount inreal-time in response to receiving the approval message from the one ormore computing devices of the external gateway, wherein modifying thebalance comprises: increasing the balance of the payment card account bythe transaction amount within the response time deadline; generating aresponse indicating the authorization of the funding request in responseto increasing the balance of the payment card account by the transactionamount; and reducing, in response to generating the response indicatingthe authorization of the funding request, the balance of the paymentcard account by the transaction amount within the response time deadlinein connection with the response indicating the authorization of thefunding request, wherein the payment card processing system does notcontrol funds for the transaction amount; and send, by the one or morecomputing devices of the payment card processing system to the one ormore computing devices of the payment network, the response indicatingthe authorization of the funding request by the one or more computingdevices of the external gateway prior to the response time deadline. 11.The system of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, causes the system to: generatethe funding request by generating, in response to the transactionauthorization request, the funding request to authorize and fund theelectronic payment transaction for the transaction amount on demandutilizing the funding source via the external gateway; and send thefunding request by sending the funding request with the additionalresponse time deadline to the external gateway prior to the responsetime deadline of the transaction authorization request to authorize andfund the electronic payment transaction just-in-time via the fundingsource external to the payment card processing system and serviced bythe external gateway according to the additional response time deadline.12. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, causes the system to generatethe funding request with the additional response time deadline bygenerating the additional response time deadline indicating a threesecond response time deadline.
 13. The system of claim 10, furthercomprising instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, causes the system to modify the balance of the payment cardaccount by: increasing, at the one or more computing devices of thepayment card processing system, the balance of the payment card accountby the transaction amount within the response time deadline prior toreceiving funds for the transaction amount from the external gateway;and reducing, at the one or more computing devices of the payment cardprocessing system, the balance of the payment card account by thetransaction amount prior to settlement of the funds for the transactionamount with the payment network.
 14. The system of claim 13, furthercomprising instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, causes the system to modify the balance of the payment cardaccount at the one or more computing devices of the payment cardprocessing system by reducing the balance of the payment card account bysetting the balance of the payment card account to zero after generatingthe response indicating the authorization of the funding request andbefore sending the response indicating the authorization of the fundingrequest to the one or more computing devices of the payment network. 15.The system of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, causes the system to determine,from a plurality of funding sources, the funding source in connectionwith the external gateway in response to determining the payment cardaccount based on the transaction authorization request.
 16. The systemof claim 15, further comprising instructions that, when executed by theat least one processor, causes the system to: maintain, at the paymentcard processing system, a plurality of subaccounts corresponding to theplurality of funding sources for the payment card account; and modifythe balance of the payment card account by modifying a subaccount of theplurality of subaccounts according to the funding source.
 17. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computing deviceto: parse, by one or more computing devices of a payment card processingsystem maintaining a payment card account, a transaction authorizationrequest to determine a transaction amount and a response time deadline,the transaction authorization request routed from one or more computingdevices of a payment network to the one or more computing devices of thepayment card processing system; generate, by the one or more computingdevices of the payment card processing system, a funding request toauthorize an electronic payment transaction with an additional responsetime deadline less than the response time deadline of the transactionauthorization request, the additional response time deadline comprisinga sub-time period of the response time deadline for receiving a responseto the funding request; send, by the one or more computing devices ofthe payment card processing system to one or more computing devices ofan external gateway that is separate from the payment card processingsystem and external to the payment network in response to thetransaction authorization request, the funding request to authorize andfund an electronic payment transaction for the transaction amountaccording to the response time deadline via the one or more computingdevices of the external gateway based on the payment card accountcomprising a funding source external to the payment card processingsystem and serviced by the one or more computing devices of the externalgateway; receive, by the one or more computing devices of the paymentcard processing system and from the one or more computing devices of theexternal gateway, an approval message comprising authorization of thefunding request within the additional response time deadline; modify, bythe one or more computing devices of the payment card processing system,a balance of the payment card account by the transaction amount inreal-time in response to receiving the approval message from the one ormore computing devices of the external gateway, wherein modifying thebalance comprises: increasing the balance of the payment card account bythe transaction amount within the response time deadline; generating aresponse indicating the authorization of the funding request in responseto increasing the balance of the payment card account by the transactionamount; and reducing, in response to generating the response indicatingthe authorization of the funding request, the balance of the paymentcard account by the transaction amount within the response time deadlinein connection with the response indicating the authorization of thefunding request, wherein the payment card processing system does notcontrol funds for the transaction amount; and send, by the one or morecomputing devices of the payment card processing system to one or morecomputing devices of the payment network, the response indicating theauthorization of the funding request by the one or more computingdevices of the external gateway prior to the response time deadline. 18.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, furthercomprising instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, causes the computing device to send the funding request tothe one or more computing devices of the external gateway to determinewhether the funding source has sufficient funds for the electronicpayment transaction.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 18, further comprising instructions that, when executedby the at least one processor, causes the computing device to modify thebalance of the payment card account by: increasing, at the one or morecomputing devices of the payment card processing system and prior toreceiving funds for the transaction amount from the external gateway,the balance of the payment card account prior to receiving funds for thetransaction amount from the external gateway; and reducing, at the oneor more computing devices of the payment card processing system, thebalance of the payment card account by the transaction amount prior tosettlement of the funds for the transaction amount with the paymentnetwork.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 17, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the atleast one processor, causes the computing device to send the responseindicating the authorization of the funding request to the one or morecomputing devices of the payment network within the response timedeadline indicating a seven second time deadline.